


Stupid Jealous

by JulietHasAGun



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, Jealousy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2017-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-27 11:08:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6282232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JulietHasAGun/pseuds/JulietHasAGun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neither of them had really been the jealous type. Usually they had been perfectly content to let the other bat away any potential suitors that felt like crawling into their laps. Usually.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Six Fucking Feet Of Him

Neither of them had ever really been the jealous type, at least not from what Hancock had seen.

Both of them were attractive, in their own right; her maybe more conventionally so. They had both been prepositioned enough times, even after they had shacked up together; it was nothing new. Each time they politely declined, occasionally nodding over towards their companion, stating that they were spoken for. Usually that was the end of it, the wastelander would either hurriedly apologize and be on their way, or jovially slap them on the shoulder, congratulating them before sauntering off- usually. Sometimes people got a bit more....grabby; when it came to that, usually whoever had been subjected to the somewhat uncomfortable flirting could handle themselves. Hancock would smoothly brush them off- usually, his tone and intimidating demeanor, something he'd built up over the years, would scare them off without much of a fuss. Zoe would occasionally have to resort to more...violent means of coercion when it came to people who wouldn't accept the word 'no' peacefully, even as charming as she was. Hancock would never forget the time she slammed a guys face down onto the bar, and slid him with such force that he flew off the end, into a Brahmin pen; he wagered the wasteland joe would never forget it either. 

But the point was, neither of them ever really felt jealous, because there wasn't anything to be jealous of.

Again, usually.

Hancock had slung his companions arm over his shoulder, helping her limp the rest of the way to Bunker Hill- which, thankfully, wasn't that far.

"Just a little longer, Zo. Don't flake out on me." He urged her on; she had taken a shotgun shell to the thigh- it had been meant for her gut, but she managed to smack it down before the gunner bastard had pulled the trigger. She had then pumped enough .45 rounds into his head to turn his skull into a maraca; vengeance was fickle, but sweet nonetheless.

"Who's flaking out?" She spoke through gritted teeth. "I'll race you there, shrimp. I'll win, too- wanna try?" Seemed like the adrenaline hadn't quite left her.

"Oh, I don't doubt ya, sunshine." He could't help but smile at her determination; might wear off when the adrenaline wore off and she felt the full brunt of pain that came with having hot lead in your thigh. "But just keep leaning on me, stay off that leg." He felt her head lull against his.

"Nooooo problem, chief." She said dully; shit, maybe it was wearing off right now. 

It had.

He almost had to carry her up the steps; he heard small grunts of pain escape her mouth with each upward pace.

Luckily, the gates were open; a caravan must have come in recently, he figured. He hunkered her down on the stoney platform that led to the main building, where all the traders shacked up.

"Oooh, and now you're gonna get to play 'Doctor'. Greaaaat." She set her arms behind her, leaning back as he set to work on her thigh.

"First rule of the wasteland, baby- don't play smart with the person who's stitching you up." He dug through the bag that had been slung over her shoulder as she rolled her eyes; he pulled out a bunch of somewhat stained medical equipment he could hardly name. He remembered the first time he had tried stitching her up he had given them overdramatic names such as 'Bone Crusher' and 'Death Saw' to make her laugh through the pain- Med-X could only carry you so far. Unfortunately enough, the names had stuck, and she continued to carry on their little game and humor him by genuinely referring to them as the ridiculous names he had dubbed them.

"Well, 'Doctor'- I think you oughta start with the 'Murder Claw'." She jerked her head to the plier-like tool beneath his fingertips. "And I'd follow that advice, doc, but I think you care a bit more about my legs than I do." She playfully nudged him with the knee that wasn't covered in blood, he responded with a grin.

"Oh, don't think you wanna start this, love."

"Well I'll need something to take my mind off the pain, now won't I?"

"I think, in your state, it'd cause a little more pain. But who am I to deny such a pretty thing?" They were both grinning wickedly at each other, and both of them almost forgot about the constant stream of blood pulsing from her leg.

Almost.

"Well, I expect you to make good on your promise later, Romeo. For now, I think you have a slug to dig out of my thigh." She leaned back on her hands, offering out her leg, kicking it over his knee.

"Alright.." He muttered, tool in hand, steadying her leg with the other. He felt her hand on his shoulder, and knew she was now staring apprehensively at the silver tool in his hand. He wanted to make this quick, and as painless as possible. He had little medical training aside from occasionally having to patch himself up back when he was a drifter- after he got his little rabble together other people had handled that; stitching up his sides as he downed whatever substance in arms reach to dull the pain. 

Not wanting to put off the inevitable, he carefully plunged the tool into her thigh. He felt her grip on his shoulder titan, her fingers digging into his back; he heard the strangled, muffled cries of pain that were fighting their way out of her mouth. All he had to do was pull out the bullet, all he had to do was figure out where the fuck it was. He pushed it in further, waiting for the metallic click of metal against metal.

'Shit,' He thought. 'Son of a bitch is really in there.'

Reluctantly, he pushed it in further, a cry finally escaping his companions lips.

"Almost there, almost there," He hoped. He finally felt the click of metal against the surgical tool; he clamped the prongs down around it and slowly, slowly pulled it from her leg. "Aaaand there the bastard is."

Her breathing was slightly labored, and she reached out with shaky hands to take the bloodied bullet. He gently placed it in her hands, flicking her blood off the silver tool before putting it back down next to the others.

"It's big as fuck..." He heard her mutter.

"It's a shotgun slug. It's meant to be a one-shot deal." It was part of the reason why it was his preferred weapon, though he realized he shouldn't bring that up at this particular moment.

"Still..." She looked down at it, her hands having stabilized slightly. She laid back with a slight 'off', raising the bloodied bullet to catch the light.

"So I could either stitch you up now, or-" He couldn't even finish, with one hand resting on his leg, the other floating over the medical bag.

"Just jam a stim in me, Doc. I've had a long day."

He let out a laugh. "Gotcha." He pulled out one of the syringes from the bag, turning it over in his hand before slowly pressing it into her thigh. He didn't feel the need to warn her, they'd done this dozens of times, and her leg was probably still a bit numb from him poking around in it. He emptied it into her leg, tossing the empty husk back into the back. A content, blissful sigh left her lips, and he saw her eyes flicker shut for a moment, her arms flopping limply down to the concrete on either side of her. A smile crossed his face; at least she wasn't in pain anymore. He bandaged her leg up quickly and easily enough, he was used to doing that; she paid little mind, he doubted she could even feel him tightening the bandages around her upper thigh.

"So," He piped up as he made sure the wrap was tied snugly around her upper thigh. "You want me to carry you to that flophouse by the bar or-"

"If it's not too much trouble could you just let me lay here.....for a little while....I'd rather not move."

He gently patted her on her good knee. "Take all the time you need." 

While she was taking a breather on the cold cement, he was busy tucking all of their tools neatly back into the bag; he figured he might as well take inventory as he did it. They had plenty of Stims, running a bit low on Rad-Away, and as always they had plenty of Red-X and Jet to go around-

"You there, we need to have a conversation." The raspy voice came from behind him, and it sounded close enough to addressing one of them. He looked over at Zoe; she had sat up since he saw her last. He might've not seen who was addressing them, but she sure did. He eyes had widened slightly, he could've sworn he saw her cheeks go red. 

That's when he turned around to see him.

All six fucking feet of him.

The guy was build like a regular old brotherhood asshole; broad shoulders, strong jaw, muscular figure- hell he even had the army fatigues and armor. There was just one little problem-

He was a ghoul.

And that was what pissed him off the most. 

"You've got my attention." Zoe piped up, leaning forward slightly, her hands still resting on the cement.

"I'm always looking for people who know how to handle themselves in dangerous situations." The ghoul piped up once again. "From what I hear, you may fit the bill."

"Dangerous situations are my daily routine." She responded with her usual roguish charm. "You got a specific job?"

Right, this was about a job- nothing to worry about, just work, just caps, nothing personal. So why didn't that make him feel any better?

"You'd be doing multiple jobs, for me and my employer." Now he was back to his reasonable unrest. 'Multiple jobs', 'employer'? "By the way, I'm Edward Deegan. You'll mostly be working for me."

Hell, even his name made him sound like a military minded jackass.

"But you'll need to talk to my boss first. His name is Jack Cabot. He likes to personally interview everyone I hire. He's careful like that." He hesitated slightly on the word 'careful'. "Come down to Cabot House in Beacon Hill and ask to talk to Jack. I'll let him know your coming."

She nodded, and he returned the gesture, turning back to slink into the shadows of Bunker Hill.

"So, up for another most likely perilous adventure in the Commonwealth?" After she had finished watching him leave, she looked down; to see a rather irate Hancock.

"Asshole didn't even acknowledge me once." He muttered, staring off in the direction he had disappeared in.

"Thought that was our thing. People talk to me, you stay right behind me looking handsome and intimidating? I thought you liked our arrangement."

"I do but...not even a glance."

"Oh, don't worry, babe. I'm sure he noticed how pretty you are." She reached out her hand to gently stroke the side of his face.

He leaned into her touch, despite the low growl that came from his throat. "Hell with it, let's just get to this 'Cabot House' so we can get paid for...whatever the hell they want you to do."

\---

Hancock wasn't sure what he expected, but he was pretty sure it wasn't a goddamn mansion.

Equipped with a fucking sentry-bot.

Zoe had wandered a bit too close to the bushes and the damn thing had sprung to life.

'STAY OFF THE GRASS' it had bellowed in its deep, tinny voice. She had jumped to her side, with him catching her in his arms before she managed to fling herself clear across the street. He had laughed, her heard hammering in her chest hard enough for him to feel it through her back. She had grasped at his red frock coat, clinging onto him as she started at the giant, but seemingly passive, Sentry-Bot.

Despite the scare, they had made it up to the door; with her pressing on the metallic buzzer.

"Go. Away." Came the gravely, tinny response. Not so much as a 'hello' or anything. He was tempted to simply pick her up and leave; they weren't wanted, they shouldn't stay- but he realized it was stupid, petty. He wasn't petty. So, he stood right behind her, both of them firmly standing their ground.

"I'm here to speak to Jack Cabbot?" Zoe said firmly to the receiver.

"Oh, it's you! Good. Come on in." The speakers tone changed immediately; was it that Deegan guy? He couldn't be sure, the speaker distorted the voice to the point that most of it was static. They heard the locks on the door beside them click, and they looked at each other, both of them raising an eyebrow; or in Hancock's case, the place where an eyebrow should have been. The woman shrugged, taking a step forward, pulling open the door.

As soon as they both entered they were greeted by the same Deegan guy Zoe had met in bunker hill; so it was him on the speaker, then. Perked right up when he heard it was her, didn't he...

"Come on, let's go meet the boss." He cut to the chase, a nod serving as his only greeting. Zo apparently had no problem with this, letting him lead the way. He led them both into what had to be the most unnecessarily posh room Hancock had ever seen in his life. "Jack!" The ghoul called. "The new girl is here!" He noticed Zoe starting to inch back towards him, nervously eyeing all the expensive, pre-war trinkets and luxuries that laid scattered about. He felt a bit better, not a lot, but better; he didn't know why. Well, maybe he knew, he just didn't want to admit it.

"One moment! One moment!" Came a voice from upstairs. "I just have to-" Before the voice could finish, a small explosion erupted from the open doorway that lay up the stairs.

"He'll be right with you." Deegan sighed, looking over at her with the kind of exasperation that only occurs when something like that happens daily. Hancock almost felt sorry for the guy. Almost.

"Damn! Clearly I'll need to adjust the mixture..." The voice upstairs began to hack. From the now scorched doorway came a man, skinny, short, with black hair and thick glasses. "Hello! Hello! Welcome to Cabot House, I am Jack Cabot!"

This was it? This was the guy? What did he need them to do, get the guys who roughed him up for his lunch money?

"Pleased to meet you, Jack." Zoe smiled as he descended the stairs.

"And I am very pleased to meet you! Edward finds it tiresome, but I always like to know personally everyone who works for me." He beamed right back.

"A good policy." Hancock chimed in lowly.

"Please, have a seat! How about a drink?" He motioned over to a spotless seating area, eagerly waiting for them to sit down. "Edward! The good bourbon, eh?" From the corner of his eye he could see Edward trudging off to what he assumed was the liquor cabinet. So this guy really did hold his leash, huh. Him and Zoe both hunkered down on the couch which lay on the far side of the room, with 'Jack' taking the single, blue armchair. "Now, before we get down to business, I have a question I like to ask all my new employees."

"Is this really the time for..." Deegan started, looking disdainfully over at his 'employer'.

"Don't interrupt, Edward." Hancock almost wanted to laugh, but he held it in. Zoe merely raised an eyebrow, her gaze shifting between the ghoul and the scrawny man in a lab coat. "The question is this: do you believe there's other intelligent life in the universe?"

Oh great, so he was one of those.


	2. Cool Night Air

"Are you talking about aliens?" Zoe reclined slightly into the couch, she was slightly perplexed, but both of them knew better than to toss out any weird theories they came across in the Commonwealth, no matter how bizarre they might have been. "UFO's, little green men, that whole shebang?" 

"No, no! That's all popular hysteria. I doubt any of it has any basis in fact." 'Jack' seemed offended at the idea of 'intelligent life' could be reduced to a hokey concept ripped from comic book covers. "I'm talking about the hidden history of our planet. The very origins of human civilization. Ancient powers that modern science, even at its pinnacle, could barely begin to comprehend." 

Hancock couldn't help but throw his companion a side-eye; which she promptly returned. A lot of unspoken things were said in their millisecond of eye-contact, but the one that really got through to both of them was ' _If he sends us digging for UFO's, I'm outta here._ ' 

She turned back to their new 'employer', who was eagerly awaiting her response. "You think aliens created human civilization?" 

"Guess they kinda dropped the ball on that one." Hancock said dryly, sliding down in his seat. 

"Yes, if by 'alien' you mean a non-human precursor to the commonly understood founding cultures – Sumer, Egypt, Assyria." 'Egypt' was the only one he listed that Hancock knew about, but his companion seemed to know enough about the three that she feigned agreement. 

"That's...really interesting." Her strained tone was apparently convincing enough for the man, and he continued on. 

"Thank you, it's good to see someone else has an interest in it. I've made it my life's work to research such precursors. So much has been closed off to us simply because people assume they have the answers! My father excavated a city in Rub'Al Khali which he dated to more than 4,000 years before the rise of any known human civilization." 

The more he heard this guy go on, the more he wished Deegy-boy would hurry it up with whatever liquor he was supposed to be bringing back. 

"The structures and artifacts were....strange. Disturbing, even. Clearly not constructed for or by humans. I've spent my life trying to decipher what he uncovered." The guy seemed honest enough, he was pretty earnest about this alien crap, so it didn't seem like he was trying to pitch them anything. He could respect that. 

"Jack-" In a second all attention was pulled from the bespectacled man and diverted to his ghoul 'bodyguard'. "Can I tell her what I need her to do?" 

' _Didn't he tell you to bring back the good liquor, soldier boy_?' He almost wanted to sneer. However the line was a bit bitter, especially for someone who hadn't really done anything to him. 

Yet.

"I'm sorry, Edward. I just get carried away sometimes." ' _Probably most of the time._ ' "You're sending her to look for the missing shipment?" 

"Yeah."

"Well then, I better leave you to it." The scrawny man almost bounced off the couch. "We'll talk more about this some other time, when things are less rushed. It isn't important now." 

Hancock doubted 'aliens' would ever be an important topic, but hey, people needed hobbies. 

"Welcome to the family!" He finished eagerly, smiling at his companion warmly before beginning his trek back up the stairs. He was starting to like the guy. 

"Okay, you're officially hired, congratulations." Deegan was now standing over them, well- over her. 

"What was all....that?" Zoe tilted her head in the direction 'Jack' had just left. 

"Don't worry about it for now. That's part of the job, by the way. It's best to keep an open mind. Jack may be eccentric but he's definitely not crazy." He seemed somewhat amused by her confusion. 

' _Yeah, wonder what else is 'part of the job'._ ' Alright. Now his mental cut ins were just getting unnecessary. 

"The job I got for you is simple. Jack owns a....facility....north of the city. There's an important package that went missing between there and here. I need you to track it down and bring it back to me. Any questions?" 

And now here his brain went with the innuendo. God fucking dammit. 

"For starters, what's this package I'm looking for?" It was an innocent question. But the more the two of them threw around the word 'package' the more his, admittedly somewhat immature, mind had a field day. 

"It's a metal case holding vials of serum. You don't need to worry about what it is. Jack needs it for his research, that's all you need to know. You should start at Parson's State Insane Asylum. Don't let the name spook ya, it's just a secure building we're using." The tone he was using was a bit too 'gentle' for his liking, but he wasn't gonna bitch. Hancock had been the same way when she had come into his office, all decked out like The Silver Shroud. A bit too soft, a bit too endeared, he saw the parallels between the similar schmuck look they both had had on their faces looking at her and damn it was pissing him off. So wait, he was wrong, he was gonna bitch. _Silently._ "We think the courier got ambushed as he was leaving the place. The guards heard gunfire in the distance but don’t know exactly what happened. Check in with Maria, at Parson's. She's in charge of the security force there. She can point you in the right direction. You all set then?" 

"Good to go." Zoe slapped her hands on her legs, pushing herself up off the couch. 

"Okay, they're expecting you at Parson's, so you better get going." 

"Ah, one more thing from me, Deegan." The man was finally forced to acknowledge the other ghouls presence as he pulled himself up off the couch.

"Yes?" There was a level of apprehension in his voice. 

"Ain't you folks ever heard of a shot 'for courage'. Don't give a shit about the bourbon necessarily, but I was under the assumption we'd be getting some liquor in our system- for the road." A smirk came to the red-coated ghouls face, if he was needlessly flexing his muscles, causing trouble, he didn't care. 

"Oh, yeah, the bourbon." His response was flat, he looked back over to the three glasses that were sitting on the pool table. "If you want o-" 

"Don't mind if I do." Hancock slipped past him smoothly, taking up a crystal clear glass in each hand, offering one back out to his female companion. "One for you, sunshine?" 

She happily took it from his hand, and a smile crawled across his face- he'd like to see the look on 'Edward's' face, but he didn't feel like taking his gaze away from what he saw as the most important thing in the room. 

"Cheers, handsome." She tilted her glass towards him, and he looped his arm around hers as they both downed their respective glasses. They were laughing when they pulled their now empty drinks away from their lips, and he felt a little bit better about Soldier-boy's tone earlier. 

This little moment, that there- that was his. 

"Careful, now. Don't need you hunting down thieves drunk." Came soldier-boys inevitable response. 

"I always felt liquor improved by rat hunting abilities." She smirked, looking over at the taller ghoul and slapping him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Eddy."

And that feeling of 'better' washed straight down the drain. 

\-- 

Here they were, in the middle of rat-catching nowhere. They had caught up with 'Maria' and she had been infinitely more helpful than that Deegan asshole. If Zoe had noticed his shitty mood, she hadn't let on in the slightest, and Hancock was perfectly content to sit just out of her view and sulk. 

No, not sulk. 'Scowl', 'brood' or 'simmer' were better words for it. Hancock didn't get 'sad' he got pissed off- wallowing in misery was never really his style, after all- not anymore, at least. 

They were now sneaking up to the shack that the package snatchers had holed up at, with Zoe pressing 'Widowmaker', her customized .50 sniper rifle, to her cheek, peering through her sights. 

"I'm counting five down there, looks like they're arguing about...something..." She whispered, Hancock crouching at her side. "When I fire the first shot, you go in blazing with your shotgun, alright?" 

What made Deegan so special, then? His stupid ass cheekbones, his baby-blue, bloodshot eyes. Looked like a damn basset hound. 

"Hancock?" 

That's all he was, anyway. A damn guard dog. What kind of self respecting ghoul lets themselves get ordered around by a looney smoothskin in a fancy house? 

"Hancock!"

"Hu- Yeah? Yeah, I'm listening." He snapped out of his trance, looking up at her. Moonlight had caught her hair in just the right way, creating a halo effect around the crown of her head. 

Damn, she was beautiful.

"Yeah, sure you were. Did you catch any of that?" She was frowning at him. A beautiful avenging angel armed with a .50 sniper rifle with a night vision scope was looking at him like he was lying through his teeth. Which, of course, he was. 

"Uh- you shoot. I run in, gun em all down. Our normal strategy. I got it, baby. Don't worry." He knew his smooth talking had little effect on her in situations like this, but it was worth a try.  
She merely sighed, shaking her head, and going back to focusing on the group through her sights. If he could've grumbled to himself without her hearing him, damn he would've. But for now, he just waited for the thunderous crack of her first shot. 

He saw the shape of a raiders head flicker through the murky glass of a rusted window for a moment before he heard the crash. In a second the glass had shattered and all that was left of the raiders head was a myriad of chunky stains on the wall.

He took off like a shot down the hill, shotgun firmly in his hands, his finger itching to pull the trigger. He could use this- the rush of a firefight had always been 'therapudic' for him. He braced his shoulder to slam through the barn door, like a bull rushing into a china shop. 

"What the-" Was all the raider had the chance to get out before he pumped two slugs into her gut, sending her limp body tumbling backwards like a ragdoll. He saw the moving figures of two more, heard the sound of their bullets zooming past his head. He ducked behind the stairwell, using the small sliver of time to reload his shotgun. 

"Duck!" He heard Zoe's voice among the cursing and gunfire, and opted to stay crouched behind the stairs. 

"Grenade!" He heard one of the raiders shout milliseconds before an explosion at the other end of the barn. 

"We're losing people!" Another raider cried. He looked out from around the corner, ready to put two shotgun shells in the poor bastard. His companion was a bit quicker than him, however, and before he could wrap his finger around the trigger she had caved the poor bastards head in with the butt of her pistol. Guy went down like a sack of bricks, and Zoe quickly began shaking out her wrist as the fifth and hopefully final member of their little showdown reared his ugly head. 

He was screaming like a jackass, Hancock would've laughed, if he hadn't been charging straight for his companion, machete in hand. 

" _Oh no you don't-_ " Hancock sprinted out from behind giver, aiming his shotgun point blank at the guys stomach. He only fired when he felt the fleshy surface of the guys belly under the muzzle of his gun, but the defeaning blast was the only evidence that a shot had even gone of. The guy simply grabbed the muzzle of his gun, pulling his machete out for an upward slash.

" _You got a death wish_?" Hancock sneered, pulling out the knife he always had tucked in the back of his coat. Hancock was fast, yeah- but this guy was faster. He managed to step back just enough so he didn't get sliced open, but he still felt the burning, cutting sensation of rusted metal biting through his skin. 

"Hancock!" He heard Zoe yell, and saw her brown hair blur between him and the raider. She crouched, pulling the guys feet out from under him. Bastard fell to his back, Hancock's shotgun skittering out to his side, and he could see the gaping hole he had left in his stomach. How the hell was he still walking? Zoe put her foot on his chest, holding him down, and took the opportunity to empty the full clip of her pistol into his head. Guy didn't have much in way of a face after that. 

"Think that'll keep him down?" She asked sarcastically, glancing at her handiwork as she tucked her pistol back into its holster on her hip. She crouched down, pulling a metallic vial from the raiders hand. She quickly turned back to him, eyes full of concern as he bent over to pick up his shotgun, one hand clutching his bloodied shoulder. 

"I sure as hell hope so.." He spoke through gritted teeth. The wound was nothing serious- well, nothing more serious than anything he'd had before- but damn it burned. 

"You okay?" She asked, taking a couple steps towards him. 

" _Fine_." He said curtly, his miserable mood brought to the surface by his burning injury. 

"Alright," She sighed, digging a stim out from her jacket. "Hold still." 

"I don't need it," He growled at her, trying to push her back. The growl worked on everyone, people in Goodneighbor fucking cowered when he did it. Her? Hell, it didn't even give her pause. She'd been with him long enough to know better. Before he could raise an arm to push her away, she had jammed it into his shoulder. " _I don't_ -" A wave of relief washed over him as the stinging slowly subsided. A sigh escaped his lips as she emptied the full contents of the vial into him. She pulled it away slowly, tossing the now empty container to the side. 

"Now that that's out of the way- what's wrong?" Her tone was teasing, her head was tilted, and she was doing that singular hand on her hip thing that made her look like the femme fatale from one of those sultry crime noir films. 

"Nothing it's...I'm fine." He said flatly, a slight hitch in his voice. It was stupid, he shouldn't even be acting pissed at her. Not like she did anything. 

"You're a mighty bad liar, Mayor Hancock." Here she went with the smirk. Now this, flirting? This was what he was good at. 

"Well, I like to be..up-front with people. Don't like dancing around the point, know what I mean?" He took a step towards her, hand falling from his shoulder. 

"Isn't that what you're doing right now?" She looked at him, chin lowered, looking up at him from under those needlessly perfect eyelashes of hers. 

"Am I?" He was never one for playing coy, but he knew it riled her up, got results. Before he could say anything else he felt her lips on his. He smiled into the kiss, reciprocating through his grin. He felt her body press against his, and wrapped his bloodied free hand around her, locking her tightly against him. He slowly tucked his shotgun into his belt as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders. His roughened lips glided against hers, and his hand glided up her free arm, fingertips tracing the inner flesh of her wrist. He felt her sigh into his mouth and took a step forward- and then another- and then another. He was gripping her as tightly as she was gripping him. His eyes flickered open just for a moment to see the stairs a few paces behind her, and that was where they were going to land. She moaned into his mouth and he couldn't have gotten there fast enough- he was tempted to just lift her up and carry her to the damn stairwell. But he felt her stagger backwards, and his hand went to the back of her head, letting her down easy on the metallic steps as he hovered over her. 

"Woah- _woah, woah, woah_!" She laughed, putting one hand on his chest, easily blocking him from completely pressing himself on her. 

"What?" He laughed right back, a devilish look on his face, planting a kiss right on her neck. " _What, what, what_?" 

"We're not fucking in a barn." She put her other hand on the side of his face as his grin only widened. 

"But baby, I didn't wanna fuck- _I wanna make love._ " He teased, tilting his head to one side. 

"Well then I don't 'make love' in barns. I only do so in the backs of irradiated cars, and in flophouses with holes in the walls. Like a _fucking lady._ " She was grinning up at him, her head feathered out around her, the moonlight, once again, hitting her just right. It turned the scar down her right eye into a strike of fiery silver, and made her eyes shine like the fucking night sky- goddamn she was beautiful. "Now get off, this would be a pretty awkward position to get caught in." 

And this moment, that belonged to him. Not to that Deegan asshole. 

"Alright, alright, as my love commands." He pulled himself off her, eyes catching the shine of the vial in her hand. "That what soldier-boy wanted?" He offered his hand out for her to pull herself up. She took it, quickly righting herself. 

"I'm assuming. I thought it might be a bigger shipment of...whatever this is. Seems like a lot of trouble for just one vial." She turned it over in her hands briefly, before tucking it into her jacket pocket. "Whatever, better get it back to him, either way." She turned to exit the barn door, tugging on the tassels of his belt. He reached out his hand, sliding his fingers between hers. 

And as she led them both out into the cool night air, he knew that this moment only belonged to the two of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hancock is a fucking softie.  
> And I had to make this one chapter longer if I'm going to fit all of the quest in here. Whoops.


	3. Missing Persons

"What do you figure is so special about this serum, anyway?" Hancock muttered mindlessly, turning the silver vial around in his hand. 

"What do you mean?" Zoe turned slightly to acknowledge him, they were currently trekking back to Cabot House from the old asylum her new 'employers' had sent them to. All for a vial of some serum. 

"They sent us all the way out here to the goonies, hired dozens of trained, armed guards, hired special couriers, for what? Some serum. They didn't even tell us what it was." He didn't like being out of the loop, but he didn't feel like getting the both of them fired for being too nosey. They'd probably be getting paid a fine sum too, based on all the tech and security these people could afford. 

"You interested in jamming it into your arm and seeing what it does, be my guest." He could hear the smirk in her voice as she teased him. 

"Hell no, even I'm not that crazy. I just think this whole situation is weird." She turned back to look at him once more, raising an eyebrow. "Well, weirder than we're used to." 

"Come on, I doubt you've never had to send people out to retrieve a lost shipment of chems. Shit like this is expensive." 

"Yeah, but I've never organized an entire heavily armed, well paid, well trained security detail to guard my merchandise. Usually a few guns hold up just fine. And I'd never set up my operation in a fucking asylum. That's just the weird cherry on top of the crazy pie." He sped up his pace slightly so he could tuck the silver vial back into her bag. 

"I don't know about you, but I don't ask questions I don't need or want to know the answers too. Jack doesn't seem like some crazed mastermind," 

' _He still seems a bit crazed to me._ ' 

"And Edward doesn't seem like the type of guy out to screw people over. He reads okay in my book. So I'm fine getting him the serum without sticking my nose where it doesn't belong." 

Hancock rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say. Might want to walk on the wild side now and again, love. What happened to the woman who charged a supermutant suicider armed with nothing but a ten millimeter with three bullets in the mag?" 

"She's standing right next to you, on her way to get paid." She was currently focused on the rocky path ahead of them, hiking up stony debris and rusted car parts. "That's my own safety, and my own business. I'm as much of a sucker for the truth as you are, but some people are just weird. I once knew a guy who took some dead dude's clothes, changed his name, and lynched a guy from a balcony. I didn't ask him any questions he didn't want to give the answers too. Sometime's you just gotta let people live." 

He fought the grin threatening to spread across his face. "Yeah, well, from what I remember, you also wanted to fuck that guy, so in that scenario it paid to be charming." 

"I'm always charming, it's why you've stuck around, isn't it? My winning personality and fantastic hair." She gave him a playful nudge, causing him to sway over onto one leg. 

"Your charm ain't the only reason I'm here, believe me. But as long as you're not trying to get cozy with the nutty professor or his whipped assistant, I'd wager you could be afford to be a bit nosy." His question was mainly teasing, but Deegan gave him enough pause for there to be something genuine behind it. 

She turned to face him, an affectionate smirk on her lips. "Aw, never took you for the jealous type, Mr. Mayor." She gave a dramatic flourish. "Is it the skinny rich nerd you're worried about or the grizzled ghoul bodyguard?" 

He was silent for a moment, trying to formulate a response. "Listen, I know you're freaky. Ain't no way you'd pick some boring, pretentious smoothskin over me." Wrong response. Such a fucking wrong response. 

" _Ooooooh_ , so it's the grizzled ghoul bodyguard you're worried about, eh?" There was a mischievous twinkle in her eye as she turned to face him, resting the back of her hand against her forehead, posing like a love interest on one of those cheesy romance novel covers. " _Oooooh_ , I am such a lovestruck damsel, simply falling into the arms of every ghoul I see." She rolled her head back and teetered, swooning almost gracefully into his arms into his arms, clutching onto the collar of his coat. "Is it the black eyes? The skinless visage? The utterly adorable lack of a nose?" She looked up at him with trouble written all over her face, he could tell she was barely holding back laughter. 

He couldn't fight the smile that came to his face, he looked down at her, the almost impish expression, the wicked grin, he wanted to kiss her, but that would just give her a reason to pull his leg and ruffle his fathers even more. "I'd personally wager it's the smell, but doll, we both know that with you it's all of those things." She snickered, grinning up at him. 

"Don't worry, handsome," She playfully booped the boney area where his nose should have been before righting herself, the warmth of her body leaving his arms. "You're the only ghoul for me." 

 

\--- 

 

Arriving back at Cabot house they were immediately greeted to the sound of bickering, loud bickering, the kind of bickering that only occurs between married couples or mothers and their rebellious daughters. 

"Emogene is missing! She must be found!" They heard an unfamiliar female voice shout, grating and shrill. 

"She's not missing mother." Came Jack's voice, sounding like it came through gritted teeth, Hancock could almost hear a vein pop just by his tone. They looked at each other, exchanging puzzled glances. 

Zoe started into the entryway, not delaying the inevitable, with Hancock following her lead. They saw Jack and an older woman arguing by the stairs, Jack towards the top, the woman advancing towards him, hands flailing in the air. Deegan stood, arms crossed, by the doorway, watching the whole scene play out with a level of placid exasperation that only occurs when something like this has happened many times before. 

"Ah, you're back." Deegan noticed them from the corner of his eye and turned his attention away from the spat occurring a few feet from them. "So did you find out what happened to the courier?" 

"Some raiders set up shop near Parsons, we took care of 'em." Zoe responded, her eyes flickering over Deegan's shoulder at the argument going on behind him. 

"Well do you know where she is?" The older woman put her hands defiantly on her hips, glaring indignantly at Jack. 

"No, but that doesn't mean-" He tried to respond. 

"Your sister is missing and I want her found. What else is Edward for if not to keep the family safe?" 

Hancock, for all his dislike of Deegan, wasn't overly hot on the guy being talked about like a kitchen appliance or a lawn mower, but the other ghoul didn't seem to mind, or notice, for that matter. 

"Hmm, I don't like raiders being so close to Parsons. I hope this isn't the start of something serious." He scratched his chin, apparently not picking up on the fact that both of them were more involved in the argument behind him than anything he was saying. 

"Mother," Jack sighed." Edward has better things to do than send someone out to find Emogene. _Again_." 

"I insist you send someone to find Emogene!" The woman paid him no mind, continuing to argue. 

"I'm not going to have Edward drop everything just because Emogene decided to take a lover again!" 

The woman gasped like some ridiculous southern belle in one of those period drama radio shows. Hancock almost laughed. "How dare you speak so disrespectfully of your sister!" 

"What about the serum he was carrying, did you get any of it back?" Deegan's tone brought them back to the conversation at hand and away from the sitcom playing out in front of them.

"Oh," Zoe quickly snapped back, fumbling through her bag. "Here, there was only this one vial left." She handed it to him apologetically. 

"Oh, good. I was afraid we wouldn't get any of it back." He took it with a sigh of relief, rummaging through his pockets with his free hand. "Here, your payment for the job, plus a little extra for managing to return some of the serum. That was good work." Hancock could've sworn he saw a smirk on Deegan's face as he slipped her the money, but he decided to pretend he never saw it. He hoped the woman arguing with Jack would just clock him and get it over with. 

"As far as what's next," The armored ghoul looked over his shoulder and sighed. "Aw hell, I guess it's time you met Wilhelmina. Jack's not gonna be happy about it..." He turned, motioning for them to follow him up the stairs to where Jack and 'Wilhelmina' had disappeared to. 

"Can someone say 'whipped'?" Hancock muttered in his companions ear as he passed her, prompting her to elbow him. He chuckled as they trailed after Deegan. 

"It's not my job to babysit Emogene!" There Jack was again, in the exact same argument.

"Jack, I'll handle it." Deegan interrupted as they entered the room. The dynamic was still the same. Jack, raking his fingers through his hair, and Wilhelmina with her hands defiantly on her hips, glaring a hole in his head. "Mrs. Cabot I'll send someone to find Emogene." 

Them, he was going to send _THEM_ to find Emogene. Not like there was anyone else worth their damn salt in this house. 

Wilhelmina softened as she looked at me, placing a hand over her chest. The more Hancock watched this woman in action, the more she seemed like a melodramatic stereotype. "Thank you Edward, I can always count on you." Her head snapped back around to Jack. "Why can't you be as devoted as dear Edward?" 

Jack groaned, and Hancock wanted to laugh at this flighty old woman talking about Deegan like he was some prized poodle. He heard Zoe suppress a chuckle beside him, and knew the feeling was shared. 

The woman turned to leave, trekking back down the stairs, not even offering either of them a glance. Figures. People of high society didn't take to him much. He could tell Zoe was mildly offended by the oversight by the wrinkle of her nose and tightness of her jaw. He could read her mind now. ' _How dare this dowdy old lady not even acknowledge either of us? We're the ones being sent to run after her daughter who's probably this rebellious because she gave her such a fucking ridiculous name. Blow it out your wrinkly ass._ ' 

"You shouldn't indulge her Edward it just makes her more _impossible to deal with next time!_ " Jack whispered harshly to his companion. 

"Just doing my job." Deegan responded in a voice so tired it was as if he'd had to do this more times than he could even remember. Poor bastard. "Speaking of which, here's what we got back from the last delivery from Parsons, raiders got the rest of it I'm sorry to say." The silver vial exchanged hands almost immediately, with Jack plucking it from Deegan's skinless hand like it was liquid gold. 

Jack didn't seem to much care about the second part. "Ah, good, finally. Maybe a few doses of this will settle mother down." He paid them no further mind, quickly scurrying off to apparently dose his mother. The mystery surrounding this 'serum' kept eating at Hancock more and more. 

Deegan turned to look at Zoe, choosing to ignore Jacks sudden exit. "Emogene is Jack's sister. You probably figured that one out yourself. She's uh....a little flighty, impulsive. From time to time she runs off, usually with a new boyfriend. Then I send somebody to bring her home." 

"Yeah, I get the whole 'running off with a boyfriend' bit. Hopefully she's being shot at a lot less, and I don't imagine a rich heiress would take well sleeping next to a pack of stray dogs under an overpass. But don't worry, I'll find her and bring her home." Zoe shifted on her feet. He could already tell what her plan was. Schmooz up to her and get her to come home on her own, or drag her back by her ears. Something told him their usual way of going about things wasn't gonna fly. 

"The trouble usually isn't finding her, it's persuading her to come home. I don't know where she's gone, but I can give you a place to start." Great, maybe they should have tagged Nick in for this one, missing persons cases were his specialty. "She's been spending a lot of time in Goodneighbor, at the jazz club there, 'The Third Rail'. You ever been?" 

An amused smirk rose to Hancock's face, maybe Nicky wouldn't be necessary after all. 

"Oh I've been, quite a few times; in fact, you're looking the owner in his black, sunless eyes right now." Zoe pointed her thumb at the ghoul at her side, who in turn gave a suave wave of the fingers. 

Deegan's eyes shifted over to him, and he raised the ghoul equivalent of an eyebrow. "Knew I recognized the getup from somewhere. Well, you should have no trouble finding Emogene then."

"Especially if she hasn't paid her bar tab." Hancock knew Charlie could be a bit anal about customers paying, it was one of the things he loved about the ol' rustbucket. 

"Oh, it's not her I'd be talking about, it's whatever troublesome deadbeat she's taken up with this time." 

"Yeah, Goodneighbor tends to attract those." Hancock responded fondly, prompting a puzzled look from Deegan. 

"Anyway, somebody there must know somethin'. She's not known for keepin' her mouth shut." 

"We'll be sure to ask around."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So anyway I can explain. I'm sorry. It's been months. I metaphorically died. This chapter is a bit shorter than the rest but to compensate I'm adding a whole 'nother chapter and I promise I'll finish this. I'm The Worst At Updating.


End file.
